Dr. Nathan Colborne

Headshot of Dr. Nathan Colborne
Dean, Arts & Science / Faculty of Arts and Science
Associate Professor / Faculty of Arts and Science - Gender Equality and Social Justice, Religion and Cultures and Indigenous Studies - Religions and Cultures
Position
Dean
Full-time Faculty
Extension
4429
Website
About
I am still not sure exactly what religion is and have given up hope of ever figuring it out. Instead I am interested in the great variety of ways people use the term religion and other words like ‘holy,’ ‘sacred,’ and ‘divine.’ Do these words actually help us understand people’s motives, actions, identities, and beliefs? Or do they distract us from what is really going on? I am interested in how religion works, what it does, and why we can’t seem to stop talking about it. I examine these and other questions in courses such as Religion and Politics, Religion and Violence, The Religious Animal, Fanaticism, and Is God Dead?<p>I have published several articles on the way sacrificial violence helps form political and religious identity and my forthcoming article in Method and Theory in the Study of Religion criticizes the use of the word ‘religion’ in contemporary evolutionary biology.
Education
BA, University of British Columbia
MA, Wilfrid Laurier University
PhD, McMaster University
Research
Research Interests:

He has particular interests in the philosophy of the subject and the impact of religion on political and social organization

Publications

Dr. Colborne’s dissertation manuscript, Desire, Discipline, and the Political Body in Michel Foucault and Saint Augustine is currently in preparation for publication.